NEW DRUG TO WIPE OUT Diarrhea (No pun intended)

It's the first Third World Drug Blockbuster! The Drug is marketed to the poor people of the world. So now Starving Marvin in Africa can have Diarrhea free days!

Last Thursday, Napo announced a deal with Glenmark in India to develop and commercialize Crofelemer as a pediatric and acute infectious diarrhea treatment. Napo signed a similar deal on June 15 with Asiapharm in China.

The deals bypass the typical pharmaceutical approach: Target rich people and charge a high price. Under that model, drugs typically are available in the developing world about 15 years after they've been introduced in premium-price markets like North America and Europe, when patents have expired or companies can afford to distribute excess drugs at a loss...

... Napo is also partnering with an American company, Trine Pharmaceuticals, to test Crofelemer as a treatment for irritable bowel syndrome, which affects 15 million Americans. Trine expects to report its results in early 2006.

...Also, "anti-motility" drugs like Imodium slow down flow of material through the intestine. While this stops diarrhea, it also allows whatever toxin is causing the diarrhea to linger in the body longer, giving it an extra opportunity to infect its host. That's why children, whose immune systems are not fully developed, as well as adult patients with immune problems like AIDS, can't take anti-motility medications.

Crofelemer instead stops the flow of excess water, which makes it possibly the first effective treatment for children and AIDS patients.

Over 1 million children die from diarrhea every year in developing nations where water is often contaminated. And it's the top complaint of many AIDS patients, Berkley said.

Great break through for the trots. Didnt realize that this was an issue, and was a lack of this type of medicine.

Source: Wired News